The Formula 1 grid will have a giant shakeup next year, with several drivers ending their existing contracts with the teams. But the biggest shock of all will be watching Lewis Hamilton sever all ties with Mercedes, a team that he has been with since 2013. This means there is a seat up for grabs at Mercedes. And there have been speculations going around that Silver Arrows boss Toto Wolff is keeping his options open to see if Max Verstappen wants to join his squad. Although Toto Wolff can pick Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli to replace Hamilton as well, as per reports.

Verstappen has been with Red Bull for the better part of his F1 career. However, the Austrian manufacturers will lose Adrian Newey, as he is going to leave in early 2025. And with Newey, several other key team personnel might also leave. Thus, Max Verstappen might see it as a downfall for Red Bull, and he might jump ship to move to Mercedes while he still can. But former McLaren racer Juan Pablo Montoya believes the Dutchman needs some advice before he decides to affect his entire career. What 9-word warning did the Colombian have to give to Verstappen regarding his potential move to Mercedes?

Juan Pablo Montoya wants Max Verstappen to weigh his options carefully

Mercedes is, undoubtedly, a formidable force in Formula 1. The team holds the record for the highest number of consecutive World Constructors’ Championship wins. With an impeccable record like that, the team should have had no problem retaining Lewis Hamilton.

But the Briton thought otherwise as he signed an eye-watering $100,000,000 deal with Ferrari for the next season. And now, George Russell needs a teammate who will catapult Mercedes to the top of the charts once again. Juan Pablo Montoya thinks it would be a bad move for Verstappen to shift to Brackley for Toto Wolff.

As per Formule1, Montoya advised Max, saying, “[If] I were Max, I wouldn’t go anywhere. If the choice was between racing in a Mercedes or a Red Bull for the next two seasons, you wouldn’t have to think about it for long, would you?” And then, he gave the 9-word warning to the Dutch lion–“Mercedes has a good engine, but not a good car.”

It almost sounded like Montoya was warning the reigning World Champion about the current situation of Mercedes’ W15.

Mercedes W15 shuts off the critics’ opinions with Canadian GP performance

Right from the start of the 2024 season, the Mercedes W15 failed to impress the onlookers. The car did not seem to have the balance and performance needed to stand up to its rivals. This can be said because Mercedes fell back to the fourth position as Red Bull, Ferrari, and McLaren have surpassed the team now. But the Stuttgart-based outfit walked into Canada with a new pair of front wings and that seemed to make all the difference.

For the first time this year, Mercedes managed to get a P3 and P4 finish from Russell and Hamilton. This has amped up the hopes of all the supporters and Toto Wolff has claimed the team wishes to make further changes to boost the results. If all goes well, Mercedes can still climb to the top row on the World Constructors’ Championship charts. But Montoya still does not seem too optimistic about the team’s chances. As he said, the Silver Arrows car may have improved, but it is nowhere near the level that Red Bull’s RB20 is operating at.

With 9 races having already been held, the gap between Mercedes and the current top 3 teams does not look so good. Added to that is the fact that Lewis Hamilton has failed to enter the top 5 in the Qualifying at every single Grand Prix. But it is rumored that Mercedes is addressing its woes with a new floor that will be released at the upcoming Spanish GP. Do you think the Brackley team can still turn the tables on its rivals and attract Max Verstappen with some good results once the new floor arrives? Let us know in the comments below.